‘I’ll never forgive him’ – Sunderland stab victim left for dead by her own cousin

A WOMAN who was stabbed and left for dead by her cousin has today said she will never forgive him.

Kyle Curtis, 21, plunged a kitchen knife into 22-year-old cousin Natalie in a terrifying assault, which left her needing life-saving surgery.

Curtis is now serving a nine-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to wounding with intent at Newcastle Crown Court last week.

Natalie said the pair had been having a few drinks in her uncle’s flat before a planned night out when she was brutally attacked.

She said: “All of a sudden he attacked me from behind. There was no warning. He stabbed me in the back twice.”

The administration assistant from Pennywell, managed to fight her way out of the flat and called 999 herself.

When she got to hospital she was rushed straight into surgery for injuries including a punctured lung and a perforated bowel.

The knife avoided her vital organs by millimetres.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that when he was interviewed by police, Curtis said “I have killed the love of my life”, and the judge referred to them as being in a relationship, which Natalie says is incorrect. She said: “I don’t know the context that’s been said in, but the only people he had were me and my mum. We were the ones that loved him the most.

“We did have a close relationship in the context that my parents brought him up as their own.

“That just makes what he did even harder to come to terms with.

“We were both 13 when he moved in and were like brother and sister.”

Natalie added: “He says he’s sorry, but I could have lost my life.

“I’ll never forgive him.

“He stabbed me millimetres from my major organs. The only reason it stopped it going in any further was the handle of the blade.”

“We were worried about his mental state,” Natalie added.

“He had been going in and out of Cherry Knowle. We just thought he was a bit of an attention seeker.

“Then there has been something that has just flipped and I happened to be at the receiving end.”

Natalie says she is embarrassed by the scars, one of which is seven inches long, and she said she felt the need to cover up on a recent holiday.

Curtis, whose address was given in court as Gleneagles Road, Grindon, will remain on licence for an extended period of five years, once he is released.